Arnold v. Arnold

Court of Appeals of Nebraska

June 21, 2016

Marvin Arnold, appellee,v.Harvey Arnold, appellant

1.
Easements: Equity. An adjudication of rights
with respect to an easement is an equitable action.

2.
Easements: Real Estate: Conveyances. An
easement by implication from former use arises only where (1)
the use giving rise to the easement was in existence at the
time of the conveyance subdividing the property, (2) the use
has been so long continued and so obvious as to show that it
was meant to be permanent, and (3) the easement is necessary
for the proper and reasonable enjoyment of the dominant
tract.

3.
Easements: Proof. The degree of necessity
required to prove the existence of an implied easement from
former use is reasonable necessity.

4.
Easements: Words and Phrases. Reasonable
necessity means that the easement is necessary for the proper
and reasonable enjoyment of the dominant tract as it existed
when the severance was made.

5.
Easements. Every easement carries with it by
implication the right of doing whatever is reasonably
necessary for the full enjoyment of the easement itself,
including the right of access to make repairs and enter upon
the servient estate for this purpose.

6. ___.
An owner of a dominant tract may not inflict any unnecessary
injury to the servient tract in making easement repairs.

Appeal
from the District Court for Frontier County: Donald E.
Rowlands, Judge.

Harvey
Arnold appeals from an order of the district court for
Frontier County, Nebraska, determining the boundaries of
easements across his land for access to and repair of an
irrigation well and underground pipeline. Following our de
novo review, we find no error in the determinations of the
district court and, accordingly, affirm its judgment.

BACKGROUND

Harvey
and Marvin Arnold are brothers who own and farm adjacent
parcels of land in Section 23, Township 6 North, Range 26
West of the 6th P.M., Frontier County, Nebraska. Harvey owns
the southeast quarter of Section 23 and Marvin owns the west
half of Section 23. Harvey and Marvin have farmed their
respective tracts of land under lease agreements with their
father, Dorrance ...

Our website includes the first part of the main text of the court's opinion.
To read the entire case, you must purchase the decision for download. With purchase,
you also receive any available docket numbers, case citations or footnotes, dissents
and concurrences that accompany the decision.
Docket numbers and/or citations allow you to research a case further or to use a case in a
legal proceeding. Footnotes (if any) include details of the court's decision. If the document contains a simple affirmation or denial without discussion,
there may not be additional text.

Buy This Entire Record For
$7.95

Download the entire decision to receive the complete text, official citation,
docket number, dissents and concurrences, and footnotes for this case.